


Stepping Up

by aw1214



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Big Brother Tuff, Depressed Ruffnut, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Minor Character Death, Ruff & Tuff Being There For Each Other, Sad Ruffnut, Sibling bond, Twin Bond, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 09:17:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18363059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aw1214/pseuds/aw1214
Summary: It's only been a few days since Ruff & Tuff's mom passed away and they've been taking it hard. Tuffnut will openly cry but Ruffnut didn't and that scared him. She wasn't herself, she would just lie in bed or in the living room, in silence and not talk for hours. He knew she'd taken it the hardest and so it was up to him to be there for his twin.





	Stepping Up

It had been exactly 3 days since Ruff & Tuff's mom died, she went to bed one night and just didn't wake up in the morning, nobody knew how she died. She wasn't sick or showing any symptoms that could explain her sudden death. One day she was there, and the next she was gone.

Ruffnut was the one who found her. When she and Tuff got up that morning they were confused that their mom wasn't already awake, she would usually wake up at the crack of dawn to feed the dragons and start making breakfast. But there was no mom in the kitchen that morning so Ruffnut went to her room to investigate. 

She knocked on the door, "mom?" She called, but there was no reply. She pushed open the door and was even more puzzled when there were no snores or sounds of breathing coming from inside her parents' bedchambers. 

She pushed the door fully open to find her mom asleep quietly in bed, she laughed, "gods mom, you scared me" she said walking over to her mom's bedside. Her mom's head was rested on her arm, slumped forward slightly. 

"Where is she?" Tuffnut called from the empty kitchen, "she's still in bed, I think she's sleeping" Ruffnut called back. What was weird was she didn't wake up when Ruffnut yelled back to Tuff. 

Ruffnut frowned and crouched next to her mom, "mom? Are you ill?" She asked, but there was no response. Ruffnut pressed the back of her hand to her mom's head to check if she was running a temperature, but she pulled her hand back when she felt her mom's frozen cold skin. 

Horror flashed across Ruffnut's face, "mom?" She asked, she shook her mom's arm frantically. Her arm slipped from underneath her and her head lolled back against the pillow. 

Ruffnut fell back in fear, she couldn't feel anything but shock and horror as she stared at her lifeless mother, dead in bed. She heard herself scream Tuffnut's name without feeling her mouth move. 

Tuffnut's footsteps as he ran to the bedroom sounded echoey and far away, he stopped when he saw Ruffnut fallen back against the floor shaking yet unmoving, "what is it? Are you okay?" He asked. 

Ruffnut raised a shaky hand to point at their mother, Tuffnut rushed to her side, "mom?" He asked, shaking her arm like Ruffnut had just done. She was cold to the touch and completely unresponsive. 

Tuffnut crumpled to his knees next to Ruffnut, they both sat there for hours in broken silence until Tuffnut found the confidence to tear his eyes away from their unmoving mom. He couldn't bring himself to speak so he just ran out the door and didn't stop until he ran into Hiccup. 

Hiccup grabbed his arms and looked at him with worry in his eyes, "Tuffnut? Are you okay?" He asked. All Tuffnut could do was shake his head before he broke down to tears. Hiccup held him as he sobbed, he tried to get answers out of him but the only coherent word he could choke out was "mom". 

Word quickly spread around the village and work began to prepare their mom's funeral. It was just Ruff and Tuff, their dad was away, on a quest exploring some abandoned ruins several weeks away. That was what he did, he went on quests or explored faraway lands. He was never around so growing up it was always just Ruff and Tuff against the world but now mom was gone the house felt way too quiet and empty. 

Ruffnut didn't know what to do with herself, Tuffnut would cry all day but at least he slept at night. Ruffnut could never sleep so she would lie awake in the dark. Every time she closed her eyes she saw her mom, just lying there with her eyes shut. She thought she'd been sleeping, she didn't look dead. She had been dead. In the room next to theirs and they didn't even know. 

She went to bed that night the same as always, she kissed their foreheads goodnight after dinner. She said she was tired, was that why? Had she known she was going to die that night? No, of course not, she told them she was tired, kissed them and said, "goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow, try not to burn the house before then". Ruff and Tuff laughed and told her no promises. 

She smiled and told them she loved them and that was it, she went to bed and didn't wake up in the morning. Ruffnut wondered at what time in the night she'd died, could she feel it? She spent every night praying to Thor, Odin and every other god in Asgard that her mom's death was peaceful and that she found her way to Valhalla. 

She watched as Tuffnut handled the semi-constant stream of visitors offering their sympathies and asking if there was anything they could do. Tuffnut greeted them with patience, he would smile and thank them for whatever gift they offered, "this is very kind but all me and my sister right now is time to heal, but we'll let you know if there's anything you can do" he promised each time. 

She felt bad she wasn't helping Tuff out with the funeral arrangements but she couldn't bring herself to move. For the first two days she didn't get out of bed at all, at least now on the third day she had moved to the living room but she didn't want to move, or to speak. She just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts. 

Tuffnut was worried, he had seen Ruffnut sad before and he knew she rarely cried but their _mom_   died. Surely it was unhealthy to just hold it in, she hadn't cried once since they found her. She didn't cry when he found her shaking on the floor, she didn't cry when they sat there together, she didn't cry when she was taken away to be prepared to be laid at rest in her coffin. As far as Tuffnut knew she hadn't cried once. 

He had cried on all of those occasions, and many times in between but Ruffnut didn't. She just lay in bed, silent and stone faced. If he didn't make sure she ate everyday he wasn't entirely sure she would eat at all. When he spoke to her she wouldn't respond the first time, he would have to call her name a second time to pull her from her thoughts. She would slowly move her head to look at him with a blank face and her answers would be hesitant and distracted. 

Ruffnut didn't really know how to cook so he made meals from the food brought to them by their visitors. He made Ruffnut a plate of roasted beef, bread, cheese and grapes. She was lying on the couch in the living room so he brought the plate to her, "Ruff?" He called as he knelt in front of her. 

She looked at him without seeing, her sad eyes stared right through him. He rested the plate on his knee and touched her shoulder knowing she was trapped inside her head again, "Ruffnut" he said. She blinked a few times and let her eyes rest on him, "hey Tuff" she said glumly. 

He gave her a half hearted smile, "hey sis, I brought you something to eat" he held up her breakfast so she could see but she shook her head, "not hungry" she replied, pushing his arm away. 

"Come on Ruff, you need to eat" he sighed but she didn't reply. He set down the plate next to her on the couch, "okay, I know it's hard but mom wouldn't want this. I'm your big brother and so it's my job to look out for you, if you're struggling then you don't have to do it alone. It's you and me right? So come on, just eat something, just a little. For me" he tried. 

She zoned back in on his face then looked down and nodded, "okay" she murmured. He passed her the plate and she began to pick at the grapes, "thank you" Tuffnut said, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, an action he didn't very often but reserved for when she was really upset. The corner of her mouth lifted fractionally before falling back into her unhappy scowl. 

There was a knock at the door, Tuffnut watched his twin for a moment more before he stood, "I'll go send them away, you just concentrate on food" he told her before he trudged to the hallway to answer the door. 

He prepared himself to turn whoever it was away when he opened up to find all their friends crowded on his doorstep, "hey buddy, how are you feeling?" Snotlout asked. Tuffnut's shoulders slumped forward but he looked up at them, "I don't know, it was my mom" 

Hiccup laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I know what you're going through, when dad died I thought my whole world was over" he said understandingly, Tuffnut nodded, "how did you get through it?" He asked. 

Hiccup shrugged helplessly, "I had you guys, I went flying with Fishlegs, trained with Astrid, you and Ruff made me laugh 'til it hurt" he said, "that sounds cool and all but right now I'm a little tied down with mom's funeral arrangements and it's seriously bumming me out" he shrugged.

"Well I can make you laugh, how about a joke?" Fishlegs suggested, but Tuffnut shook his head, "thanks Fishmeister but I'm not really in the mood to laugh" he responded. The gang stared at him in shock, he must be upset if he wasn't in the mood to laugh, he was Tuffnut Thorston, the master of pranks. There was never a time where he and Ruffnut weren't Loki'ing someone, or cracking jokes or getting into trouble but now he was so... Dull. 

His toothy grin was gone and the mischievous glint in his eye was nowhere to be seen. He looked so different in his grief stricken state, it was odd to see him acting so calm and mature, in all honesty it was a little startling. 

"Well how's Ruffnut doing?" Astrid asked, Tuffnut shook his head sadly, "not well at all, she's really struggling I think" he said lowly so she wouldn't hear him, not that it mattered. She couldn't even hear him when he was stood right in front of her. 

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Fishlegs asked, "can we see her?" Snotlout added. Tuffnut looked at them hesitantly, "uhhh" he said as he stuck his head back in the door to look at Ruffnut. Much to his surprise she was looking up back at him, without barely lifting her head she shook no. 

Tuffnut turned back to them and winced, "no, sorry guys. Now's not the best of times, she isn't really feeling up to visitors" he answered carefully. He tried not to notice the way everyone's faced dropped with disappointment. 

Hiccup stepped forward again, "just know we're here for you Tuff, we're missing you both and whenever you're ready we can all hang out again, if-" Hiccup said kindly but Tuffnut cut him off, "if there's anything you can do, we'll let you know" he finished. 

Hiccup shut his mouth and nodded causing Tuffnut to sigh, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so harsh, I'm just really stressed out between mom's funeral arrangements and the constant visitors and-" he stopped himself. 

He looked back at Ruffnut again before he stepped outside, shutting the door to behind him and pulling the gang out of earshot, "I'm really worried about Ruffnut. She isn't eating, she won't speak unless I talk to her first, she doesn't get out of bed. She just stares quietly into space for hours" he admitted. 

"Gods poor Ruff" Astrid sighed, "well it makes sense, I mean she was the one who found your mom first, perhaps she's traumatised" Fishlegs suggested. Tuffnut sighed, "I don't know what it is but I have to help her. I just wish I knew how" 

"There's nothing you can do" Snotlout said, causing everyone to look at him, "you can't solve this for her Tuffster, she just has to work through it alone but that doesn't mean you can't be there for her. Just keep doing what you're doing and eventually she'll start to return to the Ruffnut we know and love" he added. 

Nobody knew what to say, they just looked at him with their brows raised in surprise, "wow, Snotlout. That was actually really useful, thank you" Tuffnut said at last. He just shrugged with a proud smirk on his face. 

Tuffnut looked back at the hut, "I should probably get back and make sure she's eating but thank you all for stopping by, I really do appreciate you checking up on me" he said earnestly. 

Hiccup patted his back, "just don't shut us out okay? We're for you, all of us" he gestured to the others who nodded in agreement. Tuffnut didn't know what to say so he just silently accepted the hugs they all gave him, including Snotlout and Fishlegs before he said goodbye. 

When he returned he found Ruffnut curled up, asleep now, the sight was relieving for Tuffnut as he knew she wasn't sleeping well at night at the moment. He smiled when he saw her plate next to her was almost empty; the beef, cheese and grapes had all been eaten and he saw she had even taken a few bites of bread. Maybe she would be okay after all. 

He grabbed the blanket from behind the couch and carefully covered her with it before he leaned over her and kissed her forehead like mom used to do if either of them fell asleep downstairs. He watched her sleeping, almost peacefully for a moment before he grabbed her plate to clean up and make himself something to eat. 

He may not be the responsible or mature one out of the two of them, that was her, but for now he would. Until she could be herself again he was determined to be the good brother she needed right not. As much as they liked to fight and argue about stupid things when it came down to it she was his other half and he wouldn't admit it out loud of course but she was more than just his twin. She was his best friend and he'd be lost without her, Ruffnut meant the world to him and he would do whatever it takes to help her. 

If that meant having to step up and be the responsible one for a while then he would. And so on that lonely third day he cleaned the house, prepared Ruffnut food for when she woke up and finished the planning for their mom's funeral. 

 


End file.
